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The AT&T Center for Telehealth Research and Policy at UTMB

Daily FYI

April 02, 2009

Hospital Adopts E-Records, Telemedicine

Source: Health Data Management

West Carroll Memorial Hospital in Oak Grove, La., has gone live with the inpatient electronic medical records software of Healthland (formerly Dairyland Healthcare Solutions), Glenwood, Minn.

The 33-bed hospital received a grant to put in the system and join the telemedicine service of the Louisiana Rural Health Information Exchange. The HIE enables rural hospitals in the state to use telemedicine technologies to access specialists at Louisiana State University.

Telemedicine: Bringing Experts to Rural Hospitals

Source: Injury Board

Shop, email, read the news, and NOW... get medical attention! That's right, many hospitals are employing the internet to maximize the resources of specialist through telemedicine. According to the American Telemedicine Association, using monitoring devices and miniature cameras connected to the internet, many of the sickest patients are getting specialized attention from doctors hundreds and thousands of miles away.

Doctor-Patient Communication via Internet Helps Patients Reach Treatment Goals

Source: WebMD

Using the Internet to stay in touch with your doctor between checkups can help you control blood pressure, a study shows.

"Internet-based telemedicine systems allow patients to report blood pressure readings to their doctors and receive feedback as to how close they are to reaching treatment goals," says study researcher Alfred Bove, MD. Bove is incoming president of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and emeritus professor of medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia.

'Father of Telemedicine' Touts Benefits of Telehealth Adoption

Source: iHealthBeat

At the Online Care Symposium in Hawaii last week, Global Telemedicine Group CEO Jay Sanders said that telemedicine can offer significant benefits for rural hospitals and isolated patients, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reports.

Sanders, who has been called the "father of telemedicine," is credited with developing the first statewide telemedicine system in the U.S., the first correctional telemedicine program and the first tele-homecare technology.

Nebraska Telehealth Network Gets Federal Financial Boost

Source: iHealthBeat

The Nebraska Statewide Telehealth Network will receive $95,000 in federal stimulus funding, the AP/KCAU-TV reports.

The telehealth network is designed to improve patients' access to care and provide patient, professional and community education.

HSC Center for Telemedicine awaits $6.2 million in funding

Source: The Daily Toreador

The Texas Tech Center for Telemedicine is awaiting notification in April of a $6.2 million state-funded contract to create pediatric Medicaid telemedicine opportunities in 30 rural West Texas sites during the next two years.

The proposed contract would result partly from Texas House Bill 15, according to the Health and Human Services Web site, and a 1993 class action lawsuit filed against the state of Texas.

Telehealth holds great potential but wider awareness may not lead to adoption

Source: Pipeline Review

Datamonitor believes that telehealth has reached the tipping point in terms of awareness, with IBM following Intel's entrance into the market, prominent media coverage and a rise in the number of conferences highlighting the technology. However, despite the benefits that telehealth offers to both providers and patients, the question remains as to whether this awareness will lead to adoption.

Telemedicine Consultation and Monitoring for Pediatric Liver Transplant

Source: Anesthesia & Analgesia

Telemedicine provides the opportunity to bring medical expertise to the bedside, even if the medical expert is not physically near the patient. Internet technology has facilitated telemedicine allowing for voice, video and other data to be exchanged between remote locations. To date, applications of telemedicine to anesthesia (Teleanesthesia) have been limited. Previous work by Cone et al., (Anesth Analg 2006;1463–7) demonstrated the ability to direct an anesthetic in a remote location using satellite communication. In this report, we describe the use of telemedicine to support two cases of elective living related pediatric liver transplants performed at the Narayana Hrudayalaya Institute of Medical Sciences in Bangalore, India with preoperative and intraoperative consultation provided by physicians at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.